Unexpected
by Shay Briar
Summary: In a world where the name of every person who will impact your life is written on your body from birth, sometimes it's hard to determine exactly who they are to you. Are they your best friend? Your lover? Your murderer? It took Stiles years to discover the role each name would have in his life.


' _ **John' is written on the bottom of Stiles Stilinski's' left foot, and 'Claudia' is written on the bottom of his left foot.**_

John Stilinski was the first one to see the names on his son. The first ones he noticed were the ones on his back. There were so many on his small body that the names were indistinguishable. He believed that the largest one, the one in the center of the circle of names was an O or a D or a letter similar in shape. There are a few more smudges other places –behind his left ear, on the palm of his right hand, over his heart, at the small of his back. There was a clear name written on the top of his head, but he skimmed over it. He was looking for two names in particular, just like every parent before him had done.

Finally, he found what he was searching for. On the bottom of his right foot sat the name 'Claudia' and on the bottom of the other foot was 'John'. He smiled at his and his wife's names for a moment before leaning down and kissing his son on the forehead.

"John?" Claudia called from her hospital bed. He walked over to her and smiled. "How is he?"

He slowly placed the baby in her arms as he said, "Perfect. He's perfect."

The two were quite for a few minutes as they watched their tiny son sleep, knowing that they made him –that he was theirs.

Claudia took the time to examine her son just as John had done a few minutes ago. She smiled as she traced a finger over each name, whether legible or not.

"He's going to be loved by so many," Claudia whispered.

John moved to place his hand over hers on their son. "But by no one more than us."

 _ **Scott is written on the palm of his right hand.**_

Claudia and John were terrified to send their son to school for the first time, but they knew it was necessary. Their son, fondly nicknamed Stiles, was so young but so brilliant. He was only 5, but he was already ending each day lecturing his parents about what he had learned on the television, his books, or from listening in on his parent's conversation that day. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge.

They expected Stiles to be happy when he met them after school, but they hadn't expected for him to be dragging a dark haired boy behind him, barely keeping up. They became worried when the boy started wheezing the closer he got to them.

Distantly they heard a woman shout "Scott!", and a few minutes later, a woman, obviously his mother came to stand next to them. When their sons finally reached them, they stopped in front of them all.

The boy took a minute to catch his breath as Stiles announced, "This is Scottie, and we're going to be best friends forever."

The adults all nodded as the boys stood with huge smiles. Almost at the exact same time, they stuck out their right hands. 'Scott' was written on Stiles' right palm, just as 'Genim' was written on Scott's.

Melissa McCall laughed and turned to the parents of her son's friend.

"Hi, I'm Melissa McCall, and looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other now that our son's ae each other's right hand man."

' _ **Allison' is written on the small of his back.**_

"I think I'm in love," Scott moaned as he plopped down on Stiles' bed. "She's perfect."

Stiles groaned as he listened to his friend repeat the same phrase for the hundredth time. "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "I suppose she is perfect if your definition of perfect involves a girl who's been trained to kill you."

Scott growled and his eyes flashed gold as he quickly sat up and turned to his friend. "You're always going on about how terrible she is, but I'm not the only one with her name! You have her name on your back!"

Stiles rolled his eyes before refuting, "And my current belief is that it means she's going to stab me in the back, probably literally. I don't' want to be stabbed in the back! I don't do well with pain!"

His friend replied, "You have like 10 names on your back so–"

"But she's separate from them! Why Scottie! Why?"

"–unless you think you're going to be stabbed in the back by all of them, what you're saying makes no sense! And she's only like 6 inches away from everyone else, that's barely anything!"

"Um, how about like half my back? That's something!"

Annoyed, Scott finally stood up and headed toward the door. "I'm going to go hang out with Allison. See you later."

He was just about to leave when he turned back and said, "Did it ever maybe occur to you that it's the other way around? Maybe you're the one who betrays her and stabs her in the back, and that mark is a constant reminder… But Stiles, if that is the reason and you do something to hurt her for no reason, know that I will hate you forever. I don't care if you're my right hand man or not."

After that day, Stiles never mentioned not liking Allison again and simply avoided her at all costs.

' _ **Derek' is written at the top of his back, surrounding by the names of every person in the pack.**_

The first time Stile met Derek, he thought for sure that the fact that 'Derek' was on his back was simply because he was going to kill him. In fact, about the first 10 meetings between Derek and Stiles just solidified that belief.

Years later, Stiles would look around him and smile. Sitting on the porch of the Hale House, watching the pack play fight in the yard, he was completely happy. When he was little, he'd lost his mother and his family had become two, but now his family was huge.

He found a kindred spirit in Derek; neither ever really expected to have much a family ever again. Yet, they sat next to each other on the porch, Stiles as a human and Derek as a wolf, and looked out at their family.

They watched as Scott growled at Isaac before pouncing, letting Isaac quickly push him off and laughing the whole time. They watched Liam, once tentative, scared Liam, laugh as Malia chased him around the yard. Off to the side, Peter was helping Kira harness her kitsune powers. Derek gave a wolfie smile as they watch Jackson laying in the sun, seemingly completely unaware to the fact that Isaac and Scott had teamed up to sneak up on him.

Stiles stood and joined Lydia at the door of the house. On the door was written the name of their lost pack members: Erica, Boyd, Allison. Lydia didn't notice him come up behind her as she stared at the names, listening intently.

"How are they?"

Still listening, she smiled and said, "They're happy and together."

She laughed at something Stiles couldn't hear before leaning away from the door and turning to look at Stiles. "Allison says there's an unsurprising lack of need for hunters, so she's bored and waiting for us. But, if we join us too soon, she'll kill us herself."

"She doesn't have to worry. Life's too perfect to leave."

' _ **Lydia' is written on the top of his head.**_

Stiles came home one day during third grade, marched straight up to his mother, and huffed, "Lydia beat me again today! We got our test back for math and she got a 100, and I got a 98! I don't understand! "

He sat down next to his mom and glowered at the TV. She gently moved to stroke her hand through his hair and laughed as she said, "We always knew you'd be brilliant. And we always knew Lydia would be too, even before you met her."

"How?" he asked softly.

Her hand stilled on his head for a moment before resting on the top, right above where the word 'Lydia' was written.

"Because she's here, the closest to the brain she can possibly be. And also, because I know you, and you need that little, red-headed–"

"Strawberry blonde."

"–so you can be the best you possible. You need to be pushed and she'll be the only one who'll be able to. Keep her close. Even if you never manage to beat her, she will have challenged you and you will learn and grow and that is all you can ask for."

Stiles was quiet, an occasion completely rare that Claudia was unsure if her son hadn't fallen asleep while she was talking. After a few seconds, he quietly murmured, "We also got our history tests back. Lydia got one of the answers wrong, and I didn't. I beat her once, I can do it again."

"Mom, can I shave my head? I want to be able to see her name and remember to always work my hardest!"

She smiled and nodded.

He jumped up and laughed, "Even if it takes me years, I'm going to be as smart as Lydia! I'll practice my math and learn my capitals and I'll even memorize the periodic table! It's only fair to Lydia that I repay her –if she's going to push me to be better, I should do the same so she can be amazing! I bet one day she wins like the Noble Prize in Math or something!"

"The Fields Medal," Claudia corrected her son.

Stiles stared at her for a moment before smiling. "Yeah, Lydia's going to win the Fields Medal and even if I don't know her then, I'll be happy knowing that I helped her get it. But I hope I'm there… She deserves it."

He seemed to contemplate all that being there would entail. He finally laughed and announced, "I'm going to marry Lydia!"

"I know you will, sweetie," she said as she moved her hand to rest above his heart. "I've always known."

 _ **What no one besides his parents know is that 'Lydia' is also written over his heart.**_

"Lydia, I've had a crush on you since the third grade, and I know somewhere inside that cold, lifeless exterior there's an actual human soul. And I'm also pretty sure that I'm the only one who knows how smart you really are. And that once you're done pretending to be a nitwit, you'll eventually go off and write some insane mathematical theorem that wins you the Fields Medal!"

"How did you know?"

Stiles took a step back in surprise. "What?"

Lydia took two steps toward him and repeated, "How did you know? Nobody knows what a Fields Medal is."

He smiled and whispered, "I've always known."

"But," she hesitated, "why?"

His hand moved toward her face, freezing halfway as he took in her terrified, vulnerable expression. He knew that very few, if any besides him, saw through the façade she'd presented. He'd heard the rumors that her own parents didn't even care or bother to know. She'd built up her walls, never expecting anyone to want to pierce them.

Finally, his hand moved again, and he gently cupped her cheek. "Everything I've done," he whispered as he move slightly closer to her, "I've done for you. I became the best me I could be so you could be the best you possible. I've challenged myself so you'd challenge yourself. And you may not realize it, but I've always been there for you. You and I, we understand each other like no one else can, and I could never let you walk this path alone."

During his speech, the pair had subconsciously moved closer. Their faces were inches apart, and when he stopped speaking, Lydia closed the gap between them and gently placed her lips against his.

A few seconds later, Stiles slowly pulled away. He took a step back and slowly undid the top three buttons of his shirt. When Lydia saw her name written there, she gasped and mumbled, "I don't understand."

He smiled and told her, "I've known since the third grade that the Lydia whose mark was on my head was the same as the one on my heart. Neither of us could ever love someone who didn't challenge us, make us be the best us we possibly could, and I know you're the only one who could be that for me. And I plan to spend every day making sure I am that person for you." He hesitated. "If you'll allow me?"

"Only if you promise to be there the day I accept my Fields Medal."

"I will."

"Then I can't wait to spend the rest of my life beating you," she smiled. "And being with you."


End file.
